June 2011 Archive

Mea culpa, I took today off rather than suffer more of Universal’s humiliating slings and arrows inevitably directed at me. Because, thanks to matinee and pre-sale tickets, the studio’s Bridesmaids passed Knocked Up around noon as Judd Apatow’s biggest grossing film, not adjusted for inflation or higher ticket prices. Cume is over $148.769M and counting. Needless to say, Judd himself used the occasion to bitchslap me over my pre-release belief that the R-rated comedy… Read

UPDATE, 7:12 PM: Reps for MoviePass confirm they have thrown in the towel and canceled their test run in San Francisco this weekend. They say this is on a “temporary hiatus,” but I doubt we’ll see this service up and running again particularly since it’s clear two major theater chains don’t want it. That Moviepass counted six AMC theaters in its test run without actually getting clearance from that chain or from Landmark, probably qualifies this as one of the most… Read

A group of musicians protesting the Recording Academy’s move to drop 31 categories from the Grammy Awards is calling for a boycott of CBS, which airs the annual awards event, as well as the sponsors who advertise during the show, the Associated Press reported. The academy in April trimmed the number of categories from 109 to 78, saying the changes would hold for at least next year’s Grammys in February. …
Comedy Central host Stephen Colbert received approval today from… Read

EXCLUSIVE: Here’s the part of the Lionsgate movie What To Expect When You’re Expecting that I’ll look forward to. Chris Rock is signing on to play a guy named Vic, who is the head of a group of expectant fathers who lectures them on what it’s really like to have a baby and become a father. The Kirk Jones-directed pic stars Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez, Brooklyn Decker and Anna Kendrick (the latter two castings were announced today) in a mix of couples awaiting that stork… Read

EXCLUSIVE:Humanitas’ New Voices initiative, a program designed to help up-and-coming television writers break into the business, has had plenty of success since launching in November 2010, with five projects ordered to script at various studios. Now the organization has hired TV executive and producer Lowell Mate for the newly created role of Consulting Producer to help oversee the program. In addition, he will be executive producer of the New Voices project Why My Wife T…Read

Wall Street has high expectations for AMC Networks as it prepares to begin its new life Friday as an independent, publicly traded company. Most, and possibly all, of the analysts following the owner of AMC, IFC, WeTV and Sundance have a “buy” rating on the stock, which Cablevision Systems is spinning off and will trade on NASDAQ under the symbol “AMCX.”
The company’s going public as its biggest channel, AMC, enjoys a hot streak. Mad Men is bidding to become the first… Read

Francis Ford Coppola, who last participated in Comic-Con to tout his 1992 film Bram Stoker’s Dracula, is returning to the annual convention next month to discuss another horror project — his new film Twixt. The director will present portions of the experimental film he calls "one part Gothic romance, one part personal film, and one part the kind of horror film that began my career” on Saturday, July 23 in Hall H. (Of course, that career-beginning film was Dementia 13.)… Read

Scripps Networks seemed to dash investor hopes that it might be sold when the owner of HGTV and the Food Network announced today a plan to buy back $1 billion of its stock — including $300 million from its controlling shareholder, The Edward W. Scripps Trust. Speculation about a sale grew on June 17 when the trust asked a probate court for a ruling that would have made it easier for family members to sell their shares. It would have dissolved the trust on the death of… Read

Sony’s The Social Network picked up three awards in major categories last night at the Golden Trailer Awards in Los Angeles, then added the Best in Show trophy to its haul. The annual event honors the best of movie promotions. The Social Network‘s “Trailer #2”, produced by Mark Woollen & Associates, also won for Best Drama, Best Music and Most Original, making it the first trailer to take four major awards at the ceremony since The Matrix in… Read

EXCLUSIVE:Cross Creek Pictures has stepped up to finance A Walk Among the Tombstones, an adaptation of the Lawrence Block novel that seemed to have been put to rest more than a decade ago. DJ Caruso is in discussions to direct a script by Scott Frank. It is one of two pictures Caruso is considering for his next film. The other is Preacher, the John August-scripted film for Sony Pictures and producer Neal Moritz.
Double Feature partners Michael Shamberg and Stacey Sher… Read

EXCLUSIVE: Over his career, Christopher Nolan has only gotten involved in producing a picture he didn’t direct when he godfathered Man of Steel, the Warner Bros Superman reboot that’s going into production with Zack Snyder directing. Now, he’s quietly making another exception. I’m told that Nolan’s company, Syncopy, has set up a supernatural thriller at Warner Bros and hired Keith Gordon to write and direct it. Nolan’s former assistant and right-hand guy Jordan Goldberg… Read

Kansas City, Mo. (June 30, 2011) – AMC Theatres® (AMC), a leading theatrical exhibition and entertainment company, today announced it will not participate in the beta test of MoviePass, an initiative launching this weekend in the San Francisco area.
“Plans for this program were developed without AMC’s knowledge or input,” said Stephen Colanero, chief marketing officer at AMC Theatres. “As MoviePass is currently designed, it does not integrate well into our programs and… Read